Time's Up
by Vickerooni
Summary: KakaSaku. Sakura Haruno and Kakashi Hatake have been sent out in two different squads on a dangerous border mission. When he hears on his earpiece that Sakura's squad has been attacked and injured severely, he begins to worry. Will he make it in time?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and I love him for creating it. I just like to write in his world, because it's incredible.

Please enjoy (:

**Chapter 1**

He leapt as fast as he could from tree branch to branch, a mere blur as he rushed past the leaves and trees casting shadows over him in the waning sunlight. Adrenaline pumped like acid through his veins, filling him with the energy he so greatly needed. It masked the stitches in his sides, his dry throat and the bleeding wound in his shoulder as he raced on, unwilling to stop, unable to pause for even a second.

The earpiece from his radio crackled noisily in his ear and his attention was immediately riveted to what was being said on the other side. Anko's words were noticeably hurried. _"We need reinforcements! Hurry your asses up, Neji's unconscious and Sakura – Shit!" _A resounding swoosh and clang came from the ear piece. The silver-haired man was on edge; he was worried about a certain pink-haired kunoichi. Anko was just about to say what had happened to her; he was silently begging her to keep talking.

"_Hurry up God dammit! Sakura's injured and doesn't have much chakra left. If someone – eat this! – doesn't get here soon, she's not gonna make it back to camp - don't touch him you fucker!"_ Anko finished, trying to fend off the enemy nin by herself. She was the only member of her team who was still in any kind of fighting condition and Kakashi knew she was pretty close to her own breaking point. He could hear in her voice that she knew, too, that she wouldn't last much longer. He upped his pace to the complete maximum, ignoring his body's selfish protests. If he didn't get there in time, Sakura would die. He wouldn't have that, not tonight. Not on his watch.

The sun's light finally disappeared entirely and the trees were beginning to fill with the milky shine of the moon as Kakashi flew through the branches. He pressed a trembling finger to the button on his earpiece and began talking quickly into the mic positioned just beside his mouth. "Anko, this is Kakashi. Heading in your direction. Just hold on a little longer." He stated in a business like tone, hiding the worry and fear underneath his mask easily. He didn't need to ask where her coordinates were; Kakashi always knew where Sakura was going to be on missions.

His earpiece crackled reassuringly, Anko's voice ringing on the line. _"Thanks, Kakashi. Please hurry."_ His eyes widened. The blatant tiredness in her voice was both terrifying and shocking. He hoped and prayed with all his being that he wouldn't be too late.

Seconds passed like minutes and minutes like agonizingly slow hours as he sped toward the broken in-need team. As the time passed he began to worry more and more that he wouldn't make it, that he had taken too much time already. He cursed his body for its sluggishness as he prayed again and again that Anko could hold off the enemy nin just a little longer, just a little bit longer…

Finally the silver-haired Jounin came to a clearing; _the_ clearing where Anko's team was. Where Sakura was.

He sprang off the branch and landed at the foot of the tree gracefully. It was easy to see that there had been much fighting and a lot of struggling as there were deep footprints, crimson puddles and torn down trees littering the battlefield. His eyes darted around, taking in the surroundings as he listened for the slightest noise.

It was then he realized that no one was there. No sign of Anko, Neji, or even Sakura. No enemy nin leapt out at him when he arrived.

They were gone.

"_Fuck."_ He spat sharply, running around the outside of the trees to try and find some indication of where the enemies had taken his beloved and her team. He didn't want to admit it, but they were good at hiding their tracks. _Time for plan B. _Whipping out a scroll, he bit into his thumb and painted a streak of red across the parchment. Pakkun poofed out of nowhere in front of Kakashi's trembling form. "Yeah boss, whaddaya need?" Pakkun asked, raising an eyebrow at the state of his master. Kakashi shook his head slightly, indicating that now would not be the time to ask. "Enemy nin took Anko's team. I need you to track them. You remember Sakura's smell, use that." He said simply. Pakkun jumped up and started sniffing for the familiar scent of berries mixed with a hint of an exotic flower.

He almost immediately picked up a trail and Kakashi sprinted after the brown dog leading the way to his lover. _Please don't let me be too late, please, just a little longer…_ He begged the stars above him as time passed by, now all too quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"They're just up ahead, Kakashi. Go straight and you'll find them." Pakkun told Kakashi as he nodded his head, silently telling Pakkun he could leave. He poofed again and disappeared.

Kakashi flew between the trees, listening, watching. He heard voices he didn't recognize as he finally arrived at his destination. There were five nin, three were each carrying one of the team members over their shoulders. As Kakashi hid in the cover of the night and leaves he quickly estimated that he had enough chakra left for one raikiri and that would take out all of the enemy nin, if executed correctly.

He'd chance it.

Furiously coming up with a plan in his head, he noted that he couldn't just slice through the pack of nin-nappers without the chance of injuring one of his own. _Think faster, dammit!_ He yelled in his head.

Quickly observing the team of enemy nin, he noticed that there were two leading in the front; they looked more skilled than the rest, who followed in a line at the back. He also noticed their somewhat sluggish movement, which had him at the advantage. With the adrenaline still swirling through his veins, he was surer now that he could take them all out. Just…how?

One of the following nin started to speak and had Kakashi riveted on the edge of his branch, listening intently. "I'm sure I can speak for the rest of us when I say that I'm kinda tired. Can we take a rest? These bitches are heavy." Kakashi almost flung himself off the branch and socked the red-haired boy for calling his lover and her teammates that, but he held himself in check. "We can't stop until we know we're far enough away from enemy nin." One of the leaders responded without turning around. The followers groaned, knowing that they'd probably be continuing on for a while.

A figurative light bulb blinked on above Kakashi's head.

Pressing a shaking finger to the button on his earpiece once again, he began talking. "We can't hold them off any longer; we're retreating. We suggest the rest of the teams that are out there do the same. I'm afraid we've lost too many lives already. If you can still walk, try your hardest to get back to base in one piece. These guys are way too strong." He began, hearing Anko's earpiece crackle below him. The group stopped and listened to the headpiece as Kakashi began to speak again, but in a lower voice.

"I think it's just yours and my team left, man. I haven't heard a peep from any of the other team leaders. See you back at base." Kakashi watched as the followers looked up at the leaders questioningly, as if the ask if they could finally stop and take a short rest.

The main leader nodded his head sharply and the followers rejoiced quietly.

Everything was going just as he had planned. The enemy nin that were carrying Anko's team took them off their shoulders and leaned them all up against the trunk of a tree leaving all the enemy nin open for an attack.

It had worked, his plan was just beginning to unfold.

He scanned the faces of Anko's team, lingering the longest on Sakura's bruised and bloodied but still beautiful one. Her eyes were closed, but his worrying was quelled slightly as he saw the small rise and fall of her chest. He swore her eyelids fluttered open for a second, as if she had sensed his presence and wanted to find him.

_I'm coming, Sakura. Just hold on._

Kakashi stood up on his branch and took a deep breath, rolling up his sleeve a little bit. He sprang off the branch, shooting down to the area where the enemy nin were resting their weary feet.

The shrill yet beautiful sound of a thousand chirping birds filled the trees as Kakashi neared the ground. The nin jumped to their feet, but they were too slow to react to his quick slicing movements. He easily cut through all five of them, dodging some halfassed kunai thrusts and kicks. They all fell to the chilly ground with limp, dead thumps.

Before the last body hit the ground, however, he had already been cradling Sakura in his arms.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Sakura? Sakura, can you hear me? Please, love, say something." He whispered softly to her, shaking her gently. Her eyelids fluttered again over her emerald eyes. "Ka…ka…shi…?" She whispered, asking if it was really him. With much effort, she was trying to lift her shaking hand to his masked face. He grasped her hand in his own trembling one, holding it tightly and bringing it to his face so she could feel that it was indeed Kakashi. "Yes," he said, smiling softly underneath her palm as he pressed it harder to the side of his face. "Are you alright?" He murmured, watching her eyelids pull themselves open. She acted as if they felt heavy as lead and he didn't blame her; being almost out of chakra rendered you weak.

He gazed deep into her lovely green eyes as he patiently awaited her response. She began to open her mouth and he squeezed the arm that was holding her her body close to his - curled under her back - tighter to encourage her. But as soon as she was about to speak, she coughed.

Hard.

Blood came up with it as she sputtered and choked, trying desperately to regain her breath and control of her airways. His brow furrowed in intense worry and concern as he sat her up, patting her back and combing his other hand through her blood-matted pink locks. She gasped a few times, finally finding the air she sucked in so graciously. Her head lolled back but Kakashi caught it in his large gloved hand. "Sakura? Are you alright?" He asked again, now a great deal more concerned than before. Her eyes were closed as he looked down at her face and he was terrified for a few painfully long seconds.

A small half-smile crept onto her lips and she patted her hand on his which was placed on her cheek. Grabbing it loosely, she dragged it down her body; Kakashi watched intently, wondering what she was doing. She stopped their hands at a rip in her shirt, towards the bottom. There was blood encircling the little hole in the red cloth so it didn't look like much damage on the outside. A scary thought hit him and he looked back up to her face. "S-sakura?" He asked, gulping down the quaver that had woven itself into his voice. Her smile faded and was replaced with a look of pain, her brow knitting together as a groan escaped her lips.

"No no no, Sakura, you're alright. It'll be okay." He said quickly, more trying to convince himself than her. Her hands clutched at the wound she had showed him, her back curling and knees bending as pain radiated from the crimson hole. "Th-there's…a k-kunai…can you…g-get it out…p-please…?" She begged him through clenched teeth. He could hear the hurt in her voice; it was so obvious that it felt like someone had struck him, punched him right in the gut. _What if she doesn't make it…? What if she dies right here, in your arms…tonight?_ The thought ran through his mind rapidly, but he dismissed it as soon as it came. It wasn't going to happen; he wouldn't let it.

Another pained groan came from her mouth. "H-hurry…" She pleaded. "Okay, Sakura. Just, please: hold on. I'm not gonna lose you tonight." He whispered, tenderly brushing some hair back off her face before finding the wound.

He pulled up the shirt and gasped at the sight of the hole in her side.

"Oh my god." He breathed quickly before calling some leftover chakra to his fingers. This gash, this gaping hole in her side was nothing he had ever seen before, and he thought he had seen it all. He began tugging out the kunai, trying to do it with care but also quickly; that was not easy to do, especially with the piercing screams that tore from his beloved's throat with every pull.

After a few good tugs he got the bloody weapon out and as it hit the ground, his hands rushed up to cradle her bleeding body to his again. She was whimpering weakly, tears streaming down her dirty, scratched face. He hated seeing her like this, in his arms where he could protect her. But he hadn't been there earlier to guard her, to protect her from harm.

He had failed. He knew it, but didn't want to acknowledge it. No, he thought. She's not gonna die.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"S-sakura, you'll make it; you're my tough girl." He told her, stroking a gentle hand through her hair and onto her face. She coughed again, choking and gagging on the crimson liquid pooling in her mouth. She shook her head slowly in response to what he said. The gash in her side was bleeding profusely, as were many other tears and rips in her skin. "No, you'll make it." He told her. But again she shook her head, sucking in air, her eyes clamped shut against the pain.

"Ka-Kakashi…I w-won't make it back…you know th-that…" Tears burned in his eyes. He knew what she was saying was true. "I c-can't let you go, Sakura. You're my everything…I can't lose y-you…" He whispered while simultaneously trying to keep back the sobs building in his throat. A tear rolled hotly down his cheek and landed on her face. She reached her hand slowly up to touch it and more tears streamed down her own face as she tried to hug herself closer to his body with her rapidly depleting strength. He wrapped his strong arms around her small torso and tightly but gently crushed her body to his.

He let the tears flow freely and he heard her breathing in his ear begin to fade, slowing and slowing with every intake of air. He felt her fingers curl themselves into his hair as she pulled her head back to gaze into his mismatched eyes. Instinctively he tugged his mask down and leaned forward, giving her what she was silently asking for: one last kiss. Their lips pressed together, his strong on her fragile, cold ones. He could taste her tears as they continued to run down her face. Pulling back, he held her head up for her and he saw her strength was waning dangerously.

He noticed that she tried hard to take in as much air as possible before she spoke to him. "I-I love…I love you…Kakashi…see you…'round…" She whispered almost inaudibly, the air leaving her lungs altogether. He could almost hear it flow out of her chest as her arms' hold weakened and her whole body went limp.

She was dead.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"No…no, no no no, it wasn't supposed to happen like this! You weren't supposed to die! I was supposed to save you! No, _no!"_ He wailed, the sobs breaking free from their hold and tearing through his lips. He clamped his arms around her delicate form, not caring in the slightest at the blood soaking wetly into his pants and vest.

Opening his eyes as he threw his head back to cry out at the sky, he spied the bloody kunai he had pulled skillfully, but not without pain, from his lover's side. The thought that struck him would have been dark to him any other time, but right now, death seemed inviting. He had just lost his whole world and to die was the only way to find it again. He wrapped one arm around Sakura's back and crawled to the kunai, grasping it with shaking fingers. "Sakura…I'm coming for you…just hold on…" He whispered to the sky, sitting back against the nearest tree trunk with Sakura draped over him as if she were simply sleeping and not lifeless.

Clutching the kunai in his free hand, he pointed the sharp tip at his chest, holding it as far away from himself as possible. He knew exactly where his heart was and he knew just how to stab it to end it all.

And without hesitation, he plunged it into his chest with all the strength he had left, his whole body going limp within seconds after a scream rang through the forest. His fingers uncurled limply from around the handle of the weapon that had killed the pair of lovers, his head lolling to the side and eyelids sliding closed as if torpor had unforgivingly taken them over.

There they were found minutes later by the back-up team that was sent specifically for Anko's. With Sakura's arm slung across Kakashi's chest and his own resting around her waist, they looked like a pair of sleeping lovers and not a pair of dead beat less ones.

They were slumbering, but from this slumber they will never wake again.

Author's notes: I realize Kakashi is dramatic and a little out of character, but think for a second; we've never seen him deeply in love with someone. Yeah, he's always shown as this quiet, pensive, aloof man, but how do we really know what he'd act like if he had someone he dearly loved in his life? I could be wrong, but I know this is how I feel he _may_ react if shortly after he fell in love and then his love died. Take it or leave it, it's just my opinion.

Thanks for reading (:


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